The Best Crop: A History of Orchard Farming in Orem, Utah

This historical documentary traces the history of the Provo Bench (north of the city of Provo) from the mid1800s to today. After Provo's founding water from the Provo River was diverted onto the barren benchland, transforming the area into fruitful orchard land. The area prospered through the 1800s, took the name of railroad barren Walter Orem in the early 1900s, and weathered the Depression well. World War II brought nonMormon immigrants and heavy industry in the form of Geneva Steel, and thenceforth orchard farming would be a dying way of life. Essentially Utah's only city not laid out before its development, Orem grew piecemeal as individual orchards were sold off for housing. Today it is Utah's fastest growing city but unfortunately with some of the knowledge of its heritage. This film profiles the few tree farmers left, paying tribute to them and others who shaped this community.